Socket



' July 20, 1937. A. J. SCHMITT 2,087,784 I SOCKET Original Filed Aug. 17, 1932 ratented'July 20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT acusar OFFICE My invention relates to radio sockets, and. has

for its object improvements in devices of that character.

One of the objects is to place each contact spring inside o1' a cavity formed in' an insulating body so as to prevent an angular insertion of the tube prongs which would give a se to the spring to be engaged.

Another object is simplicity and ease in assembly of parts. A third object is compactness by which space is saved. A fourth object is to make all sockets interchangeable'with each other in any position of wiring. A ilfth object is to so locate the contact springs within an insulating holder that a person handling the radio receiver with a tube removed cannot vreceive an electric shock. Other objects will appear from the description.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. lfis an elevation ofthe present device secured to the chassis of a radio set and supporting a tube;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the socket secured to the chassis;

' 25 Fig. 3 is a still more enlarged section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 3: Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 oi' Fig. 2 showing one of the longer rectangular openings at the scale of Fig. 4, rotated 90 degrees, and showing a large tube terminal engaging a spring of the socket;

Fig. 6 is a plan of Fig. 2; 'v Fig. 7 is a bottom view of Fig. 2; and Fig.'8 is a perspective view of the locking ring used to hold the device to the chassis.

'I'he socket II is a single piece oi insulating material preferably consisting of phenolic resin molded into the formidesired. It is in the gen- 40 eral form oi a thick disk having an extreme outside diameter about equal to that of the tube base I2. The lower part of this disk is of slightly less diameter than the upper part and is arranged to pass thru a circular opening in the chassis I0. 'I'his leaves a lip I3 to rest on the upper face of the chassis as shown in Fig. 2. The

' lower part of the disk is rounded asl shown at I4 and terminates in a recess I5 under the lip I3 and of less diameter than the opening in the chassis.

Justunder the lip I3 and over the recess I5,

the disk has a slight'shoulder I6 tting into the.

hole of the chassis. Located in the recess I5, and bearing partly on the upper part oi the round Il and partly against the inner face of the chassis, is a spring ring I'I.` This ring is initially in the long stripsto form loops 22 near the centers of form of one lturn oi' a helix,and when in place acts to press upward on the chassis and downward on the socket. It thus Aforms a spring locking means to hold the socket rmly to the chassis with the lower face of the lip I3 in contact'with 5 the upper .face oi' the-chassis.v

'The socket has as many pin receiving Openings as there are pins or prongs on the radio tube to be held. 'I'he present drawing represents a socket for a tube having'iour pins, and the 10 openings for these pin terminals pass entirely thru the disk yI I. In the under face of the disk is an equal number of recesses I3, and these recesses extend upward to a level with the under Y face of the lipI3. 15

It was stated that the lower part of the disk was arranged to pass thru a circular opening in the chassis. However, that opening is not a complete circle as at one place there is an inwardly projecting lug or key I3 whichwill fit easily into any one of the recesses or keyways I8 and prevent the socket i'roni being turned in its, seat. If it is desired to shift the position of the socket with respect to the chassis, the recesses I8 furnish convenient Vmeans for inserting a tool to release spring I1.

As shown in Figs. 2 to 7, there are four rectangular openings 20 to receive tube pins and contact springs 2|. These springs are bent from the bends, and have T-headed ends 23 as shown 30 in Fig. 3. The upper ends of the openings 20 have lateral recesses 24 to receive the T-heads, and deep enough to ultimately locate those heads a considerable distance below the upper face of the socket. As so made, a person cannot get an 3.5

- electric shock by placing his finger on the socket and over an opening.

Each spring 2l has integral wings 25 which are bent outward so that they project in a direction 40 perpendicular to the outer faces of the spring. The distance between the upper edges of wings 25 and the lower faces of the T-heads 23 is-equal lother until the wings 25 are inside of its opening 20, after which the spring may be pushed upward. The recesses 2l, which are advantageous- 55 also by receiving the T-heads to desirablyilx the relative; rotative relations of the body and contact members.

Those parts of a spring 2| whichare between the wings and its T-heads are curved inward as shown in Fig. 2 and are slotted as shown at 26. When a tube pin 21 (Figs. 1 and 5) is inserted in an opening 20 it engages the edgesl of the slots 26 and pushes `the legs of the spring from each other as may be seen by comparing Figs. 4 and 5. The curves on the legs of the spring at these places are rather short, the ends of the curves are backed by the walls of the opening, and the slots 28 are given a width which will reduce the stiffness to a desired degree.

Most radio tubes have one or more of its contact pins or prongs of larger diameter than the others, the purpose being to ensure that it be inserted in its socket only in a position which will correspond to the wiring `to which connections are to be made. To provide for this, some of the openings 20 are large enough to receive the larger pins and some are large enough to receive only the smaller pins. At the same time it is desired that the same contact springs will fit equally well in the openings of different sizes.

As stated before, the openings are rectangular in shape. The width of the openings where they are engaged by the springs is the same in all cases, and is great enough to receive'the smaller pins but not the larger ones. One or more of the openings, two in the present case, is slightly longer than the others, and has recesses 30 in the walls not engaged -by the legs of the spring.

These recesses permit the passage of the larger pinsjand the longer rectangular opening permits the spring 2i to accommodate itself to such pins.

Wires are connected to the springs 2l by inserting them in loops'. 22, or by wrapping them around the springs between loops and then soldering them. The way of making these connections is shown in Fig. 1 and needs no description.

It is to be observed that the entire socket is compact and requires less 'space than the tube it is to support. As a consequence, the size of the chassis is determined by other considerations than the space occupied by this device.

The device consists of a small block of molded insulation which requires no machine work or riveting, and is held in place by a single spring ring which is no more than one coil of a helical spring. No rivets or screws are required, and no mechanical voperations other than pressing the spring ring in place. What is more, the -contacts for the molded block and its holding ring, consist of a plurality of contact springs stamped from sheet metal, and are all alike. They are simply pushed into openings molded in the block and hold themselves in place by a self locking operation.

Heretoi'ore it has been customary in radio socket construction to use short soldering lugs which were connected to the spring contacts, but which did not extend below them. quence, it was necessary for the user to solder each wire in place separately by hand. When the contacts 2I-22 extend` down below the ends of the tube prongs as shown in Fig. 1, these lower parts of the springs are independent of the spring action inside of the openings or cavities 20.

Under such conditions, the wires may be connected, as shown in Fig. 1, to all of the sockets mounted in a chassis, and the chassis may thenbe placed over a container of molten solder so As a conse- 2,087,784 ly in the form of relatively narrow slots, serve v that the springs will be immersed to` a depth which will cover the two loops 22. By such pro- 1 ceeding, all of the wire connections may be soldered by one operation. As the average receiver setl requires about thirty or more solderedconnections for these sockets, it will be evident that making the central parts ofthe contact springs into loops which extend a considerable vdistance below the tube prongs makes it possible to save a large amount of labor.;

What I claim is:

l. In a socket Vfor electronic tubes, a disk of insulating material having an opening therethru, and the upper part of the opening being larger than the lower part, and 'a' contact spring having two legs inserted in said opening, the ends of the legs being larger than the other parts and resting in the larger part of the opening, and intermediate parts of the legs having projections engaging the disk to retain the contact spring in position when expanded by its own resiliency.

2. In a socket for electronic tubes, aldisk'of'v Y' insulating material having van opening therethru and with a recess at the upper end of the opening, and a U-shaped contact spring passing thru said opening and having its upper end resting in said recess, said spring having a.` projection engaging said body at the lower end of the opening when said spring is in said opening and is expanded by its own resiliency.

3. In a socket for electronic tubes, a disk of insulating material having an opening therethru,

a spring bent at its central portion to form two legs and having a head at the end of each leg, said spring being adapted to have its'centrai portion pass thru said opening and such passage being limited by said heads engaging the body of the material, and means by which the spring, in conjunctionwith suitable lugs, retains itself in place by its own resiliency.

4. In a holder for an electronic device, a disk of insulating material having an opening therethru, a U-shaped spring bent at its center to form a wire receiving loop and having a head at the end of a leg, said spring being adapted to have its loop pass thru said opening and said head serving to limit the extent of such passage.

5. The combination with a radio chassis having an opening with a projecting lug or key, a

`body of insulating material having a portion projecting into said opening and said portion having av plurality of recesses each one of which is adapted to receive said lug or key, said body having a similar plurality of openings therethru, springs located in said openings with contact surfaces for tube prongs above and wire connections below.

6. A tube socket containing a one-piece body of insulating material having an opening therethru, and a contact spring retained in said opening by its own resiliency and consisting of curved parts of the legs of a metal strip bent at its central part so as to make the legs approach each other, said curved parts being slotted at their of the opening within which they are located and the central'part extending a considerable distance below the curved parts and serving as means for making wire connections.

'1. A tube socket consisting of a disk-.of insulating material having an opening therethru, and a curved contact spring having a slot in the curved part and the ends of the curve backed by a wall of the opening, said spring being resiliently selfsupporting and having an extension projecting below the socket and serving to make electrical connections.

8. The combination with a radio chassis having an opening with an inwardly projecting lug, of a disk having a flange resting on the face of the chassis and with a portion of the disk projecting into said opening, a series of recesses in and arranged around the inwardly projecting portion each one of which is adapted to receive said lug, and a corresponding series of contact springs located in openings arranged around the axis of the disk and intermediate said recesses.

9. In a socket of the class described, a molded one-piece body of insulating material having an opening passing axially therethrough, said opening at its upper endbeing adapted to receive therein a cylindrical prong of a radiol tube or the like, said opening having an upwardly facing shoulder therein, a lateral extension of said opening in the form of a relatively narrow slot transversely intersecting and communicating with said opening at the upper Aend thereof, a onepiece spring metal Contact member received in said opening spaced substantially downwardly from the upper end of the opening and having an upper shoulder in abutment with said shoulder in the opening, said contact member being insertable in said opening throughr the upper end thereof and having a laterally extended portion receivable in said slot fixing the relative rotative relation of the body and contact member,I

ber extending materially below the lower end of' 40 said body after the contact member is inserted radio tube or the like, each opening having slotlike lateral extensions communicating with the prong-receiving portion of the opening at the top thereof and extending to both sides of the prong-receiving portion and each having an upwardly facing shoulder therein, with aY one-piece spring metal contact member received in` each said opening and having a flattened portion received partially in the said lateral extensions, each contact member having a resilient portion adapted to contact the prong between the said i lateral extensions of the opening and to ex under the influence of the prong, the wall of the opening being relatively close to the said resili-v entportion to limit the flexure of the resilient portion, each contact member having a preformed shoulder engaging the shoulder in the opening when the contact member is inserted therein through the top of the opening, having a lower portion thereof movable laterally into position to engage the endA of the body below the said resilient portion to provide engaging shoulders to prevent axial displacement of the contact member with respect to theV body after the contact member is inserted downwardly therein through the upper end of the opening, and having a portion positioned below said shoulders for attaching an electrical conductor thereto.

ARTHUR J. SCHMITT. 

